James L. Kraker Jr.

James L. Kraker Jr., a resident of Gouverneur who served as chairman of the Development Authority of the North Country, died June 11 at age 93 at a hospital in Daytona Beach, Fla., near his winter home at New Smyrna Beach.

Mr. Kraker, who was born Jan. 22, 1920, in Spring Lake, N.J., graduated from Cornell University, Ithaca, in 1942 with a degree in agricultural economics. After serving in the Navy several years, he moved to Gouverneur in 1950 to take over management of Dodds Motor Corp., a Ford farm implement and auto dealership. Though he sold the business in 1982, he became an active member and chairman of the Development Authority, serving eight years from 1985 to 1993.

Mr. Kraker married Dorothy D. Dodds on July 15, 1943, at Pensacola, Fla. She died in 2006. Surviving are three children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

One of Mr. Krakers sons, Lawrence L. Kraker, was injured July 17 in a seaplane crash on Sylvia Lake. The 64-year-old, who was flying the ultralight plane alone, was flown to Upstate Medical University in Syracuse in serious condition.